The FITLET3 Box PC from Compulab
Compulab FITLET3 – Proven technology with continuous evolution
Since its launch on the market, the BoxPC FITLET3 from CompuLab has established itself as a reliable standard in the industrial PC sector. As part of Compulab Ltd’s successful FITLET family, this system has benefited from years of optimisation and customer feedback. Available in the INOVIS WebShop, the Compulab FITLET3 represents the mature evolution of the FITLET architecture, offering proven technical solutions.
Technical architecture of the Compulab FITLET3
The technical design of the FITLET3 showcases Compulab’s profound expertise in thermal management. Its patented cooling concept uses the housing as a massive heat sink with optimised heat conduction paths. Heat is dissipated via specially developed heat pipes and thermal interface materials, which were developed in close collaboration with material specialists. This cooling technology enables the FITLET3 to achieve a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of up to 25 watts without the need for active cooling.
Depending on the chosen configuration, the FITLET3 chipset is based on either the Intel Apollo Lake or the Gemini Lake Refresh platforms. Compulab has optimised the FITLET3 PCB specifically for these architectures, paying particular attention to EMC compliance and signal integrity. Design features of the FITLET3 PCB include differential signal routing for high-speed interfaces and multi-layer ground planes for optimised noise suppression..
Memory architecture and performance optimisation
The Compulab FITLET3 supports DDR4 SODIMM modules with clock speeds of up to 2,400 MHz. Compulab’s BIOS implementation enables the memory timings to be fine-tuned for optimal performance. With a memory bandwidth of up to 38.4 GB/s (dual-channel), the FITLET3 ensures smooth operation, even with memory-intensive applications.
The storage flexibility of Compulab’s FITLET3 is particularly noteworthy. The system supports M.2 SATA SSDs, mSATA and eMMC storage simultaneously. The intelligent implementation of the Compulab FITLET3 storage controller enables RAID configurations for increased data security. The integrated eMMC storage can be configured as a fail-safe boot drive, with larger SSDs used for application data.
Network and communication technology
The FITLET3’s network architecture showcases Compulab’s grasp of industrial requirements. Its dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, based on Intel i211-AT controllers, offer precise time synchronisation thanks to their hardware time-stamping. By implementing Wake-on-LAN, PXE boot and VLAN tagging at the hardware level, Compulab has made the FITLET3 ideal for networked industrial environments.
Compulab has not neglected serial communication. The FITLET3 COM port supports the RS-232/422/485 standards and features automatic transceiver switching. The FITLET3’s UART implementation provides FIFO buffers of up to 256 bytes and supports baud rates of up to 921.6 kbps, which is essential for legacy industrial devices.
Power management and energy efficiency
The FITLET3 power design from Compulab features sophisticated power management. The integrated DC-DC converter accepts input voltages ranging from 9V to 36V DC and is protected against overvoltages of up to 40V. Compulab’s implementation includes active power factor correction (PFC) and achieves efficiencies above 90%. Idle consumption of the Compulab FITLET3 is less than 5 watts, while maximum power consumption ranges from 15 to 25 watts depending on the configuration.
The power states of the FITLET3 are controlled by ACPI 5.0, and Compulab supports all modern C- and P-states. This allows for dynamic frequency and voltage adjustments to be made for optimum energy efficiency. The Compulab FITLET3 also supports Wake-on-Timer and Auto-Power-On after a power failure, which are critical features for unattended installations.
BIOS and firmware architecture of the FITLET3 from CompuLab
Compulab has equipped the FITLET3 with a fully customisable AMI Aptio V UEFI BIOS. The FITLET3 BIOS offers a range of features, including Secure Boot, TPM 2.0 support, and extensive remote management capabilities. The BIOS team at Compulab releases regular updates that include new CPU steppings, security patches and feature enhancements.
The Compulab FITLET3’s firmware supports out-of-band management via the integrated Baseboard Management Controller (BMC). This allows for remote diagnostics, BIOS updates, and system monitoring, regardless of the state of the operating system. The FITLET3’s watchdog timer can trigger hardware-based system resets to increase system availability.
Enhanced I/O and expansion options
The FITLET3 I/O hub from Compulab combines modern and legacy interfaces. Its USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports offer 5 Gbps bandwidth and individual port power control. Compulab implements USB Power Delivery of up to 15 W per port, which is sufficient for industrial peripherals. FITLET3’s GPIO functionality provides eight programmable digital I/Os that can be configured as input, output or interrupt sources.
The FITLET3’s display outputs utilise Intel’s Gen9 graphics with hardware acceleration for 4K video. The Compulab display engine supports triple simultaneous display configurations via HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 and eDP. The FITLET3’s GPU can decode H.265/HEVC and VP9 in hardware, thereby freeing up CPU resources for other tasks.
Operating system support and drivers
Compulab offers comprehensive operating system (OS) support for the FITLET3. Windows 10/11 IoT Enterprise is fully supported by FITLET3 Windows drivers, which include all proprietary features. For Linux, Compulab provides kernel patches and device tree overlays. FITLET3 Linux support includes Ubuntu LTS, Debian, CentOS and Yocto-based distributions.
The FITLET3’s RTOS compatibility is particularly noteworthy. Compulab collaborates with VxWorks, QNX and Windows 10 IoT Core to develop real-time applications. The Compulab FITLET3’s deterministic interrupt latency is less than 20 microseconds, as verified by Cyclictest under RT-Linux.
Long-term availability and lifecycle management for the FITLET3 from CompuLab
As a well-established product, the FITLET3 is supported by Compulab’s long-term strategy. The company guarantees component-level availability by strategically stocking critical components. FITLET3 Revision Control transparently documents all hardware changes, which is essential for validated systems.
Compulab’s FITLET3 end-of-life (EOL) management service offers a ‘last time buy’ option and migration paths to newer FITLET generations. The Compulab engineering team supports customers in qualifying hardware revisions for regulated industries.
Performance benchmarks and real world tests
The Compulab FITLET3 performs well in standardised benchmarks. Depending on the CPU option, the Compulab FITLET3 Passmark score is between 1,500 and 5,000 points. However, more important for industrial applications are the continuous performance values. Even after 24 hours of full load at an ambient temperature of 60°C, Compulab’s FITLET3 thermal throttling test shows no performance degradation.
